Chapter 158: Condition Restored, Fis.h.i.+ng And Pancakes
After a day of rest, his body recovered significantly and took a big step toward regaining normalcy.
In the absence of modern medical equipment and medication, Su Mo was very satisfied with his recovery speed.
The laundry he washed and hung yesterday had become dried off, gently shaking as the wind in the shelter circulated.
Changing into a set of fresh clothes, Su Mo could not help but feel better.
“It seems that I was born to work hard. I thought I could recuperate in the shelter, but I didn’t expect myself to end up so busy!”
Outside the basin, there was no torrential rain like in other places, and there was no scorching sun either.
The rain was lightly falling, like an illusory fog, and the temperature remained within a very comfortable range.
Just like boiling a frog in warm water, as the disaster approached, this kind of daily temperature in the day was more suited to human survival and habitation, which in turn gave many people a blind optimism toward the impending disaster.
Opening the garage gate to release the acc.u.mulated scent of fresh wood, he returned inside the shelter. After having breakfast, Su Mo began to prepare his fis.h.i.+ng tools.
Although the small lake was not very large, it was still 40 mu large and five meters deep, and occupied a substantial area.
The carps in the lake were spa.r.s.ely distributed, so the efficiency of regular fis.h.i.+ng or entering the lake to catch fish would be too low, and would not be cost effective.
After considering a few options, Su Mo still ended up deciding to produce a fis.h.i.+ng net.
Fis.h.i.+ng nets were divided into gill nets, trawling nets (trawl nets), purse nets, dip nets, and cast nets.
The net threads had to have good impact resistance, wear resistance, mesh size stability and flexibility, and appropriate tensile strength.
Naturally, this kind of material was not available in the shelter, so he had to rely on the system for the material conversion.
Sitting in front of the workbench and taking out the plant fibers, Su Mo began to use the knotting method to weave it seriously. Although this method had problems, such as loose nodules and uneven mesh structure, it was indeed the best solution he had at present.
It took half an hour to complete the preliminary work of crafting the fis.h.i.+ng net.
Compared with other things that were not recognized by the system, the speed at which the system recognized the fis.h.i.+ng net could be considered fast. At the same time, this change indicated the strong manual dexterity of Su Mo.
[Knotted fis.h.i.+ng net (Semi-finished product)]
[Description: Fis.h.i.+ng net crafted by the entry-level craftsman “Su Mo” from plant fibers. Can only be worn and cannot be used.]
[First upgrade direction: Change the material. Upgrades the net to synthetic fiber material, improving the flexibility of the fis.h.i.+ng net to a certain extent, and at the same time increasing the harvest and the probability of catching fish. Survival points required (125)]
[Second upgrade direction: Change the material. Upgrades the net to high-grade nylon and installs an electric device that automatically attracts fish into the net. Survival points required (280)]
[Comment: Wear it, and there is a certain probability of attracting the attention of the same s.e.x and giving a good impression.]
“It’s been a long time since I saw such a price that is so pro-people. Thousands of survival points were always needed at every turn, so the sudden appearance of one or two hundred points requirement is kind indeed.”
The two upgrade directions of the fis.h.i.+ng net were not expensive, especially the first upgrade direction that only required 125 points, which was really cheap.
However, in terms of the choice, Su Mo did not even think twice about things and chose the second upgrade direction.
Without a boat, if he wanted to cast the net to fish in the lake, he could definitely do it, but it would be a colossal waste of time!
If this was ten days before the disaster, Su Mo might consider upgrading the handmade fis.h.i.+ng net and slowly salvaging it.
However, the time saved could be used to create more tools for sale, and G.o.d knows how much he could earn from the trading!
A green light flashed, and the colorful material of the fis.h.i.+ng net began to change, gradually transforming into light-gray nylon material.
At the same time, a small electric sonic device was added to the center of the fis.h.i.+ng net. By relying on this small object, it could attract the carps to gather.
He connected the fis.h.i.+ng net to the power supply to charge. Taking advantage of the wait time, Su Mo began to craft tools again, until the light rain outside stopped and the sun rose to the center.
For the first round of tool sales, 100 stone pickaxes and 100 stone axes were Su Mo’s target. Now only the last 20 iron axes and 40 iron pickaxes were left.
Putting down the tool he was working on, he picked up the charged fis.h.i.+ng net, and drove Earth Tiger over to the lake.
After the snow was moistened by the light rain and the several days of exposure to the sun, the snow surface had finally turned into solid ice. Had it not been for the snow chains on Earth Tiger, it would have started to slip out of control as soon as it was driven out.
“I hope that tomorrow’s secret trading realm will not be too far away, otherwise even trading itself would be a problem!”
The current trading rules of the secret realm had not been announced yet, but if the current weather was anything to go by, the last day should still be sunny, which was good news.
The twelve-kilometer journey was fleeting and, when Su Mo arrived at the lake, the carps inside were still swimming leisurely. It seemed that Su Mo, the uninvited guest, had not been discovered yet.
Taking out the fis.h.i.+ng net from the storage s.p.a.ce and looking at the carps scattered underneath, Su Mo smiled and pressed the switch of the small device at the center.
After a crackle of slightly harsh sounds, it gradually began to tone down. When Su Mo thought that the device had failed to initiate, a magical scene happened.
At the lake sh.o.r.e, where there had not been many carps gathered, there was a sudden frenzy, as if the carps had been inexplicably drawn to something.
There were even a few carps that followed the sound and rushed directly onto the sh.o.r.e, flying and rolling about in the snow, trying to advance to the position where the sound was being made.
Taking advantage of this good opportunity, Su Mo quickly backed up two steps and used his waist strength to cast the fis.h.i.+ng net out.
The net instantly became heavy laden…
When he tugged at it, Su Mo found that it was difficult for him to pull up the fis.h.i.+ng net underneath when it was loaded with fish. Earth Tiger’s moment had arrived.
Su Mo tied one end of the fis.h.i.+ng net onto the b.u.mper and started to reverse Earth Tiger away from the lake. The carps that were still struggling stubbornly could only be caught and be pulled out of the lake.
After roughly counting them, Su Mo was surprised to find that there were already a hundred carps in the net, jumping about.
The smallest one was one and a half catties, and the largest one was about three catties.
“My goodness, it seems that this sonic device is a piece of black technology. I don’t know if similar technology exists for fis.h.i.+ng devices on Earth.”
Su Mo was amazed by the magic of the system’s black technology. After the fis.h.i.+ng net was untied and all the fish were removed from the net, he began the second round of fis.h.i.+ng again.
After repeating the cycle the second time, the total number of fish caught was approximately two hundred fifty of fishes, and the total weight had exceeded his previous estimate.
“Carps don’t taste good, but they are more resistant to cold than other fishes. I hope that they can survive past this winter.”
By now, the first batch of carps had died from being out of the water for so long and had been put into the storage s.p.a.ce of Earth Tiger. The fis.h.i.+ng task was then completed ahead of schedule after he waited for the second batch of carps to perish.
Now the only thing left was the pancakes.
Su Mo drove Earth Tiger back to the shelter. Smelling the heavy fishy smell on his body, Su Mo simply soaked the combat uniform in snow water, closed the gate, and decided not to go out anymore!
He went to the living supplies storage and moved all the bags of flour to the kitchen. Su Mo then began to study how to make pancakes in batches.
First of all, he had a choice between flour with yeast or without. For this matter, Su Mo did not hesitate, immediately choosing to make unleavened pancakes.
It was not because Su Mo felt that it would be time-wasting or that he was being lazy with yeast, nor was it because the calories of yeasted flour were about the same as unleavened flour.
Instead…
Compared to unleavened flour, leavened flour had most of the starch inside converted to sugar, which was easier to digest after eating. As it was faster to digest, people would naturally feel hungry sooner.
Unleavened flour is not easy to digest and is rich in starch. A small piece would provide enough calories and be sufficient for a person to consume over half a day.
As long as one could stay inactive and keep the body warm, with a large serving of unleavened pancake and a potato, one could “comfortably” survive this cold winter.
After adding water, mixing the flour, and cooking them in the pot, Su Mo used the wind to blow away the smoke.
Sitting in front of the pot, the thick golden pancakes were stacked on the chopping board one by one by Su Mo. The three little ones were staring at the sight.
During the cooking process, Su Mo did not cut corners at all. Apart from replacing the water for the pancakes with precipitated snow water, he was not stingy with other condiments such as vegetable oil and five-spice powder and salt, which were added as much as needed.
As it was the first time he was selling items in the secret realm, he had to pay attention to honesty and reputation. There had been countless cases on Earth that proved:
In the early stage, even if it was at a loss, it was necessary to find a way to create a brand. As long as word-of-mouth was pa.s.sed around, even if there was a bit of a setback afterward, most people would not care.
In the apocalyptic wasteland, word of mouth and reputation was the same!
Only when everyone would trade with him could he expand the shelter as much as possible and collect better things. At this point, after baking a hundred pancakes, Su Mo still maintained his “conscience”!
It was not tiring making pancakes. They had plenty of wood, and the three little ones were warm. Oreo laid down comfortably with Big Spark and Little Spark and slept at the side.
Occasionally, when the smell and fragrance of the freshly baked pancakes bloomed, the saliva that kept flowing out of the three small mouths betrayed them.
Without the need to go out and with nothing to do, Su Mo simply took out the programming textbook and sat at the stove, reading.
Other aspects of the base could be handed over to others, only the automated control system for the shelter’s defenses, this vital system could not be pa.s.sed to others.
Su Mo was not clear on whether the system could identify and upgrade the automated control system. However, it was necessary to take precautions and prepare things in advance.
Once he entered the secret realm, he could search for clues regarding a computer, and then the automated control system could be put on the agenda immediately. The defense level of the shelter would rise again at that point. Even some self-written code could be entered into the Earth Tiger’s system.
“public static void main (String[]args)”
“System.out.println(h.e.l.lo world!)”
Sitting in front of the stove with nothing but spare time, Su Mo became interested in the emerging discipline of programming. He began to earnestly recite the codes aloud.
The pancakes in the pot gradually took shape…
Everything was on the right track. He only needed to wait until tomorrow to enter the secret realm, and the technology tree that had stagnated in the shelter would receive a splash of inspiration!